Touch-enabled devices have become increasingly popular. For instance, peripherals, accessories, and other devices may be configured with haptic output devices so that a user can be provided with haptic sensations to provide information to the user, such as an indication of the occurrence of various events. Such effects may be used, for example to supplant or augment a visual or auditory effect. Such peripherals may receive information for generating haptic effects over a wireless communication channel, such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, however, at times such communication channels may introduce latency into the communication and hamper the ability of the peripheral to provide the haptic effect efficiently and effectively. Optical transmission of at least some of the parameters used to generate the effect may help improve the ability of a device to provide haptic effects.